Gloucester Rugby missed their chance to climb into the play-off places at the halfway stage of the season as struggling Exeter Chiefs continued their dominant record between the two clubs at Sandy Park with a 22-15 victory on Sunday.

England star Henry Slade was central to Exeter ’s victory as he dictated play in the backline as well as kicking seven points and assisting a try for Tamati Tua who was joined on the scoresheet by official player of the match Dan Frost and replacement tighthead Josh Iosefa-Scott. Gloucester came back in the second half and took the lead after tries from Gareth Anscombe and Jamal Ford-Robinson and five points from the boot of Santi Carreras, but they were outwilled by the desperate hosts who sent Sandy Park into raptures at the final whistle as the long wait for a home win was ended.

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South West rugby writer John Evely takes a closer look at the individual performances from the Gloucester Rugby players…

15. Santi Carreras - 5

The Argentina star missed a relatively easy penalty kick in front of the sticks late in the game which would have given Gloucester the lead and allowed them to tactically play the final quarter very differently. He largely struggled to get into the game with only flashes of his attacking prowess.

14. Christian Wade - 4

The winger was largely a peripheral figure while on the pitch and departed early after failing a HIA. Struggled to match the physicality of opposite number Tommy Wyatt and failed to take a cross-field kick, losing the ball into touch.

13. Max Llewellyn - 5

The in-form Welsh international was kept extremely quiet as the Cherry and Whites were starved of possession. He escaped once down the left wing but was cut down from behind by Olly Woodburn.

12. Seb Atkinson - 5

The centre showed a few nice touches as he set Llewellyn away for a line break in the first half but struggled to have much influence on the game. His most memorable moment was getting annihilated in a tackle by big Ethan Roots.

11. Josh Hathaway - 6

The winger was the liveliest of Gloucester’s backline as he made a couple of sharp breaks and tested the defence with some chip and chases.

10. Gareth Anscombe - 5

The fly-half read a telegraphed pass from Tamati Tua to jog in unchallenged from 45m out in the second half to get Gloucester back into the game, but made some poor choices to kick possession away when the visitors were trying to get back into the contest with time running out.

9. Tomos Williams - 6

The Welsh star still oozed class despite being on the losing side but had few opportunities to showcase his attacking prowess with Gloucester’s lineout and scrum wildly inconsistent.

1. Mayco Vivas - 6

The loosehead was a force in the scrum as the Cherry and Whites narrowly edged that setpiece battle.

2. Seb Blake - 3

Gloucester’s lineout was an absolute mess for most of the contest and the miscommunication with the first throw of the day which saw him his Freddie Thomas cost Gloucester the game as the ball landed in the arms of Frost for the opening try.

3. Kirill Gotovtsev - 6

The Russian won a penalty at the scrum to provide his side with a decent platform.

4. Freddie Thomas - 5

The lineout was Gloucester’s Achilles heel as it repeatedly malfunctioned to put the visitors under real pressure.

5. Matias Alemanno - 6

The Argentina international left the field in discomfort with his arm in a makeshift sling having injured his shoulder.

6. Jack Clement - 7

The blindside flanker made some thunderous runs as Gloucester’s primary ball carrier.

7. Lewis Ludlow - 7

The captain, as always, put his body on the line as he won turnovers and made tackles to force knock-ons.

8. Ruan Ackermann - 7

The number eight won turnovers and was a force with the ball in hand, but Exeter won the battle of making more contact metres to repeatedly put them on the front foot.

Replacements:

16. Jack Singleton - 5

17. Jamal Ford-Robinson - 6

18. Ciaran Knight - 5

19. Cam Jordan - 5

20. Albert Tuisue - 5

21. Caolan Englefield - 5

22. Chris Harris - 5

23. George Barton - 5